Fix You
by ofsparrowsandmockingjays
Summary: Mid-AWE after Governor Swann's death. It was the only promise that he'd ever make and keep. It meant that for one night, he could have her to the maximum he would probably ever have her.


Disclaimer: If I owned anything, would I really be writing fanfiction?

He could hear the sobs coming from his cabin. He'd had Will take her in there just to get her off of the deck so he could deal with her in peace, but Jack was now regretting it. He'd be the first to deny any remaining feelings for the former-governor's daughter, but that didn't mean he didn't have said remaining feelings. The strings of his heart had yanked tightly at seeing her try to chase after her father, and they'd suffocated his heart when she'd responded to Will's embrace after a moment of fighting. _Why would she have come to you, mate?_ The captain thought as he left the helm to Gibbs' hands. Thankfully Barbossa was below deck, doing whatever it was he did when he wasn't aggravating Jack. _That's all I would need about now, him breathin' over my shoulder._

Sighing in frustration, he entered the cabin and closed the door behind him. He saw Will shutting the bedroom door as he exited. "She's asleep," he said almost coldly.

"Calm yourself, Whelp, I have no intentions of disturbing her."

"Might as well," Will said as he made to leave the cabin. "She's been talking about you for the past half-hour. I gave her a bottle of rum, hope you don't mind." With that, he left.

Jack groaned and threw his hat onto the chart table in frustration. It knocked an uncorked bottle of ink over, sending the black liquid splattering across the nearby maps. "Fucking, meddling, rum-stealing whore," he grumbled, moving the parchment and wiping it off carefully before throwing them onto his desk where they'd be safer.

"_Jack…_" he heard her softly call out to him, her voice muffled from the door. At first, he ignored it, but when her voice sounded again he detected a hint of panic to it. Rolling his eyes and sighing heavily, he opened the door and peered in, seeing that she was in the middle of some nightmarish fit.

"I'm right here," Jack grumbled, sitting next to her on the mattress. She didn't have covers over her, but the unmade sheets at the foot of the bed were tangled against her feet. He reached to untangle them, but at the first touch of his hand against her leg she flinched violently, kicking him with her cloth-tangled feet. "Suppose I deserve that," he mumbled, removing his hand. It was probably for the better, anyways. He didn't need to complicate his mind further by touching her bare skin, although it was too late, for when he next looked to her face, his heart softened.

"Damn it," he cursed quietly as she let out another whimper of distress, his name on her lips once more. "Come on, Elizabeth," Jack whispered, shaking her shoulder. She was still wearing her Asian garb from earlier. She began to awaken, her honey-colored eyes struggling to focus on anything as they opened into the barely-lit cabin.

"Jack?" She asked hoarsely, pressing her face tighter against the pillow. "What are you doing in here?"

"You're in my cabin and your beloved William left you in here. I may not be your biggest fan, but I wasn't about to let you fall and kill yourself, it'd be too easy," he said emotionlessly.

"Oh, Jack," Elizabeth breathed heavily, her voice on the verge of breaking. Jack looked away at the first sight of a tear rolling down her porcelain face. _Don't do this to yourself, mate._ "How could I have been so _selfish_? I left him to find you so that Will and I could be happy, not thinking about my father's consequences." She paused. "And yours. I am sorry, Jack."

"Don't, luv," he bitterly replied, reaching down and yanking the covers free from her feet. It had been bugging him, probably because it was the only thing he could control at the moment. "Time and tide."

"Yet you're not looking me in the eye." With a sigh of exasperation, he turned his head and looked her dead-on in the eye. She looked away only moments later, another tear rolling down her face. "I led him to his death." Jack fought the urge to add '_and mine'_, but instead he thoughtlessly reached towards her and wiped the beading tears from her cheek with his thumb.

That was all it took. Elizabeth looked up at him and gave a sad smile before breaking down. Jack reached back down to the sheets, this time pulling them up around her shoulders. He also stupidly laid next to her, feeling her hesitantly curl against him. He rotated onto his back, pulling her with him so that her golden head rested against his chest. He was angry at her still, he had no doubts, but he couldn't stand to see her this hurt, this _broken._ He couldn't bare to add to her guilt, not now. Perhaps later, when they weren't alone and when some of her grief had worn out. Thoughtlessly he pressed his lips to the top of her head.

"Thank you, Jack," she whispered, a hand latching onto his waist. Gently, he reached down and moved it to rest against his chest instead. He then used that hand to secure the covers around her, the other hand tangling into her hair. He wanted her, but he couldn't have _too_ much, lest his mind get the best of him. "Stay with me tonight?" She asked quietly, on the verge of sleep.

"Aye," he whispered. It was the only promise that he'd ever make and keep. It meant that for one night, he could have her to the maximum he would probably ever have her. "Sleep, now. 'Ole Jack's right here."


End file.
